Phoenix Feathers
by Elizabeth E. Hale
Summary: What if Bella had a secret, one that not even the Cullens knew about? Now that the Cullens are gone and the second war was about to begin, Bella is forced to abandon her home in Forks after tragidy strikes and join her friends at the Burrow. B/E, not B/H
1. Preface:

Preface:

**EPOV-**

I fell on my knees in frustration and agony. My love, my life, was missing, and possibly dead. And it was all my fault. I should have been there to protect her! That was my job, to shield her from any harm and to make her happy. But I had failed abysmally, and the thought of her chocolate brown eyes burned me like a red-hot knife to the heart. I blocked out the thoughts of my family, not wanting to hear their pity or grief. I didn't deserve it. She had to be alive, she had to be! The mere thought of any other possibility made me feel cold. Colder. Freezing. Chills ran unnaturally down my spine, along with a sliver of instinctive fear. Wait, what was happening?

I looked up to see my family in the same state that I was. Alice had wrapped her arms around her torso, looking alarmed. Jasper had his head in his hands, as if he had a head ache, probably from dealing with the emotions of our family as well as his own. Emmett had his arms wrapped protectively around a frightened looking Rosalie. Carlisle and Esme simply looked worried. An almost silent rustle, sounding like silk over ground would to a human, came from the west of us. I rose warily, only to be slammed to the ground again less than a millisecond later by a mass of black.

I struggled to get back on my feet, kicking, punching and biting, but the creature was terrifyingly powerful. Whatever it was, was repulsing. Covered by a black hood, it glided effortlessly off the ground and smelled of decay. I was thankful to the hood, I shuddered to think of what may lie underneath it. My body felt icy cold, and all of a sudden my grief and despair were too much to handle. I stopped fighting, feeling weak for the first time in over a century.

All I could think of was those beautiful doe brown eyes, dull and unseeing. My mother, cold and lifeless, never too sweep around the house cleaning and singing again. The countless victims from my rebellious years, screaming as my razor sharp teeth sliced through the thin membrane of their necks. The thoughts of the others were just as bad as my own. Rosalie was whimpering in agony as she remembered the monstrous ending of her human life and the despair over the child she would never have. Emmett was reliving the bear attack that had so brutally ended his human life and his large family that he had been forced to leave behind. Esme was tearlessly sobbing, unable to pull her mind from the death of her first son, Theodore. Carlisle was thinking about the time after his rebirth, the hopelessness and the self-hatred was over powering him. Jasper writhed in agony as he was forced to feel our pain and despair as well as his own, brought on by the memories of his time in the war zone. Alice lay limply, unable to think about anything but her visions of Bella last year, the visions of her death.

I desperately tried to block the thoughts of my family, unable to take anymore torment. My body felt numb and everything went cold and black as the creature lowered it's face and reached for it's hood. Just before the black consumed me I heard the most beautiful voice in all of existence cry out something that didn't make sense, "Expecto Patronum!" And them my world went dark.

I'm a first time FF writer with amazingly low self-esteem. Reviews would make me giggle like a hyena breathing in heluim :D


	2. Inferno

Hello again to everyone reading and I just have to say, wow! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot. A special thanks to AmazingGrace36 for all the enouragment. **WARNING**: Angsty chapter, I allmost cried when I was writing it. Character death.

Oh, and I forgot in the last chapter, I am not the origional writer of any best selling books, I am a laid back reading lover with an overactive imagination.

**Midway upon the journey of our life **  
**I found myself within a forest dark, **  
**For the straightforward pathway had been lost. **

**Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say **  
**What was this forest savage, rough, and stern, **  
**Which in the very thought renews the fear. **

**So bitter is it, death is little more; **  
**But of the good to treat, which there I found, **  
**Speak will I of the other things I saw there. **

**Inferno**

**by Dante Alighieri**

**Chapter 1: Inferno**

**BPOV-**

As a nasally ring echoed across the school grounds, I automatically grabbed my books and shoved them into my bag. Today had been a long day, even longer than usual, and I was relived that it was over. I had to pinch myself through the day to keep from passing out from exhaustion. I hadn't been getting much sleep lately, and the nightmares had been worse than usual this week. I dreaded going to sleep now, knowing that all that awaited me was nightmares of green forests and being alone. Ever since… _he _and his family had left, I don't think I have gotten a good night's sleep. That was over six months ago. I winced and took a deep breath as the familiar, red hot pain seared across my heart like a knife, and quickly diverted my thoughts to another subject.

I walked to my truck quickly and nodded automatically when Angela half-heartedly said goodbye to me. Sighing absently, I got into my truck and started the engine. Poor Angela, she was the only one to still make any attempt to even talk to me. I could tell that she was worried sick about me, but I tried to alleviate her fears. I think she saw through my pitiful attempts at lying, though. I never had been a good actor, even though it never seems to have kept me from having secrets.

As I thought about my worried friend, I couldn't help but think of my other best friends. I wonder what they are up to back in Europe. I had not seen my best friends, adoptive siblings really, for over a year. Harry Potter and Ron Weasly, my big brothers, and Hermione Granger who was like a sister to me. I was close with all of the Weasley family, it was hard not to be. However, I had always gotten along the best with Ginny. Maybe it was because she was the only daughter of the house-hold, or maybe it was because she used to practically beg for my advice in her eternal quest to gain Harry's affection, but Ginny and I had spent a lot of time together at the Burrow. Since Harry has finally fallen completely in love with my young, fiery friend, then I guess that officially made her my sister too.

Tonks and I were also close, the metamorphosis's quirks were entertaining. Besides the fact that she was fond of changing her appearance bizarrely, she was also an extremely sweet, fiery and playful woman. She was more like an aunt to me. I had also grown fond of her fiancé, Remus Lupin. He may have been a were-wolf, but he truly loved Tonks and was one of the most thoughtful and compassionate people I had ever met. I hoped desperately that everyone was doing okay. As soon as the thought entered my mind I sighed ruefully. Knowing Harry's luck, they were undoubtedly in some form of trouble. Worry flooded my mind as I thought of my friends in trouble when I was not there to help them.

After all, it's not like the wizarding world was exactly safe right now, especially for my friends. Voldemort was on the loose and in full power again, and his cronies in masks were wreaking havoc everywhere. He was determined to kill Harry, and to wipe out everyone that he deemed, "unworthy of sharing the wizarding world," with the purebloods who were loyal to him. All of Europe was in terror, innocent muggle-born families were being dragged off to Azkaban in hundreds, and murders were becoming more and more common.

I hated being here in America, unable to help protect my friends or help the order with missions, or really do anything to help with the war. I had moved here to visit with my seldom visited father, planning on leaving as soon as any real action had started. I wanted to spend some quality time with Charlie before the war started on full scale, and all hell broke loose. I didn't want to risk being killed by some death eater without ever having spent virtually any time with Charlie. But then I met _him_, and everything changed. I had a new reason to stay in Forks, a new reason to live.

It felt like I wouldn't survive without him. His kind, compassionate, self-sacrificing nature. His tousled bronze hair and his smoldering golden eyes. _Edward_. I love him more than anyone else I have ever met combined. He was my perfect other half, my soul mate. And leaving would mean being away from him. I was caught between staying with my soul-mate and his family, who I had grown to see as _my _family as well, and returning to help my other family in Britan and helping fight a war. I couldn't decide. It pained me physically to think about leaving him, but it made me sick to think of my friends and family dying in this horrible war while I hid in Forks. I shuddered and took several deep breaths to try to calm myself, to steady the pain lashing through my body. I _really _needed to stop thinking about these things. Concentrate on the present, I told myself grimly. Like Tonks had once told me, "the past is the past, but only if you let it be. If you don't then it's just an untouchable dream."

I drove down the road, I distracted myself by wondering what I would make Charlie for supper tonight. I felt a strange shiver of anxiety and dread crawl down my spine. I shivered, alarmed. What could have caused _that_? I had only ever got that sensation a few times in my life, and something horrible always seemed to happen afterwards. Like six months ago, the day before they left… no, I shouldn't think of that. I didn't need to torture myself unnecessarily. Shaking my head warily, I re-focused on the road.

When I reached my house, I was surprised to see Charlie's cruiser parked in the driveway. He must have gotten out of work early. A pang of guilt passed through me. There was only one reason that Charlie would be home from the work that he loved so early. I knew that my father was worried and scared by my behavior, he has been making a lot more effort to spend some time with me in the last few months. I think he was scared to leave my by myself for too long.

I parked my truck next to the cruiser and grabbed my bag, hopping out of my truck and walking to the door. When I reached for the door handle, I froze. The door was slightly ajar, which was very unusual. Being a cop, Charlie was more careful about safety than most people, and was careful to always shut the door and lock it at night. But if Charlie didn't leave the door open, then who did? Did somebody try to break in? I couldn't imagine someone breaking into houses in Forks, but then again, very unlikely things seemed to happen to me. Or did we have visitors? Maybe Billy Black or Harry Clearwater, here to watch a game or talk about a new fishing spot. But there were no other cars in the yard, so that couldn't be it. It couldn't be one of my kind. How would they find out where I was? The only ones who knew where I was were my closest friends. Fear and anxiety crawled down my spine again, stronger this time.

Bracing myself, I stepped inside the house, pulling the door shut with me. I walked down the hallway to the living room, peaking to see if Charlie was in his usual spot in the armchair. He was not. "Dad?" I called warily. A moan from the direction of the kitchen and my head snapped in it's direction. I withdrew my willowy and slim wand, hidden on the inside of my coat pocket, and held it out in front on me as I moved toward the noise. I walked as soundlessly as I could to the doorway and took a deep breath, preparing myself for what lay in the other room. I froze at the horribly familiar smell that filled my nose. An unpleasant, tangy small that reminded me of pennies or rust. The smell was blood.

I dashed into the kitchen immediately, terrified by the smell. What I saw made my bones feel cold. The table had been knocked over, as had most of the chairs. Several dishes had been destroyed too, leaving glistening shards of glass strewn everywhere. My father was laid curled up on the floor on his side, looking like he had been knocked down, a dent in the cupboard just above his head. His left arm was covered in blood, and lay protectively over his ribs and stomach. His breathing was labored and shallow, switching between shallow pants and rasping, long breaths. I gasped in horror and rushed to my father's side. My wand fell forgotten to the debris covered floor. "Dad", I whispered in pain, kneeling next to his injured body. He didn't respond, he simply moaned weakly.

Taking his arm I carefully moved it so that I could examine the extent of his injury. I hissed in pain and fury. His left half had been brutally shredded, and was bleeding freely onto the floor. It looked like a couple of his ribs looked like they had been broken, and were sticking up at odd angles. I froze, horrified. I was fairly good at healing spells, Tonks had taken it upon herself to teach me several after she found out that neither me or my friends were familiar with any. But I didn't know any that were powerful enough to deal with an injury of this magnitude. I leapt up to run to the phone, to call the police, when I froze helplessly again. There was blood covering the floor, and even more continued to flow from my father's wounded side. He had lost far too much blood, I was amazed that he was still even alive. Panic spread through me as I realized that he would never make it until an ambulance arrived.

I kneeled by my father's side, frozen by fear and panic, when his breathing became even more ragged and infrequent. "Dad, please hang in there", I begged as sobs began to wrack my body. My heart stopped when I heard him moan faintly. His eyes fluttered open momentarily, fuzzy and unfocused. "Dad!" I whispered as a thousand different emotions coursed through me, love, relief, pain, horror, panic, and too many others to name.

"Bel….la", he whispered so faintly with a timid cough that I was had to bend my head even closer to his to hear him properly. My tears trailed down my face and fell onto his, but he didn't seem to care. He closed his eyes again with a rough cough that brought a small amount of blood to his lips. _Punctured organ_, a small, functional part of my brain realized with another stab of dread.

"Dad, no, please stay with me. Stay with us. The town needs you. I need you. You can't leave, not now. No, please no." I begged uselessly as my sobs became more and more uncontrollable. And then one horrible second, his breathing stopped. I could no longer control my sobs as I sat by my father's lifeless, blood covered body. It felt like every ounce of grief that I had felt in the past year, all of the pain, mourning, grief, and loneliness came crashing back down on me harshly. I was unable to do anything but cry, the pain and grief drowning me much more efficiently than my tears.

Why had this happened? _How _had this happened? What could have done this to my father? It was defiantly no human, and not even a witch was capable of inflicting these kind of wounds. The injury reminded me of the last battle I had been in before I left. The Order of the Phoenix and the DA had worked side by side to defend the castle from the invading death eaters, fighting in the hallways and causing a great deal of damage throughout the castle. The fighting had been vicious, and it was a miracle that our side had not had suffered worse losses than we did. Almost everyone got away with only minor injuries, other than out poor, trusting headmaster, who was murdered by a man that he had considered a friend. But there was one person who had not gotten away with just scratches and bruises.

Ron's older brother, Bill, had been fighting an extremely large death eater who was shooting curses everywhere like a maniac. He was so distracted that he never noticed Greyback, one of Voldemort's most devoted followers and the most vicious were-wolf that any witch or wizard had ever encountered. He was, strangely, the very creature that attacked Remus as a child on Voldemort's orders and bitten him. Greyback didn't seem to care if he was in human form or wolf when he attacked someone, pouncing on Bill and mauling him like a feral animal. Afterwards Bill's face had been decorated by countless, overlapping gashes and cuts caused by Greyback's claws and fangs.

I looked at my father's wounds through blurry eyes. I felt my body freeze with shock as I realized that Charlie's wounds looked eerily similar to the ones I had seen on Bill that morbid night. What did that mean? my father couldn't have been attacked by a were-wolf. It was still two weeks to the next full moon! And what would a were-wolf have been doing here anyways? I know that Forks seems to have a strange attraction for mythical creatures, but I highly doubted that a were-wolf would have simply wandered here. Especially once they caught the scent of vampire that I'm sure criss-crossed the land. Besides, almost all were-wolves were gathering in some remote location in England to serve Voldemort in the war. So why would one have been in Forks, much less attacked Charlie?

Unless…..no, that couldn't be it. Nobody could have sent one after me. Almost nobody even knew where I was! How could anybody have even discovered where I had disappeared to after Dumbledore's funeral. To most of the wizarding world, I had simply disappeared! Everyone had probably assumed that I was killed. Nobody could have known where I was. _But then again_, an annoyingly snide part of my brain whispered, _think about who you're talking about. This is Voldemort. If he wants to find you, he will find a way._

All of a sudden, I heard a whispery cackle drift maliciously from the direction of the door. I recognized my least favorite noise immediately. I knew that demented laugh from anywhere. I had first heard it in my fifth year, trapped in a dark hallway in the Department of Mysteries. Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the most dangerous and evil witches in the world, had crept up on me as I searched desperately for the others. She gave that raspy cackle and I failed to react in time. The consequences were painful and nearly fatal. I'm sure that she would have gotten tiered of torturing me eventually, and finally killed me if it had not been for Hermione and Ron stumbling upon us and fighting her off.

My pain and grief were immediately replaced by a burning hatred that seared through my veins like fire. I lunged to my feet and sprinted to the door, snatching my discarded wand from the floor as I went. One word conquered my mind. Revenge. I would have my revenge on the twisted, vile witch who had hurt so many in her life. I paused on the doorstep, my scouting the front yard as I looked for the she-demon. Another putridly gleeful laugh echoed from the direction of the trees that covered the yard behind the house. I immediately sprinted in it's direction with an unusual amount of gracefulness. I was temporarily blinded by the darkness as I entered the dark forest. Before my eyes could adjust, a voice called out in a falsely sweet tone from somewhere to my right "Isabella, oh Isabella, where are you?"

I twisted to face her voice, raising my wand as I moved. I searched through the thick tree trunks from where the death eater taunted me, saw nothing but trees and ferns. "Will you miss him, little Isabella? Your little muggle scum father?" she taunted, only adding to my rage. I knew what she was trying to do. She was expecting me to do something stupid because of my rage to give her an advantage. I refused to give her what she wanted, even though her sadistic pleasure at my pain made my hands shake with fury. I had never been this angry before, never even considered using some of the spells that I so dearly wanted to use on my father's murderer. I had never been a fan of the unforgivable curses, but they were looking much more appealing at the moment.

Collecting every ounce of self restraint that I had, I forced myself to keep a cool head and focus on finding my enemy. She was apparating around me, toying with me so that I couldn't pinpoint her exact location. I knew that she would never let me actually see her until she moved in for the kill, so I closed my eyes and focused completely on my hearing. A bird launched it's self off a branch to my left, a slight wind made the leaves above rustle like thousands of living insects. Silence, and then a slight pop coming from directly behind me. I turned and aimed my wand at a large cedar tree near where the pop had resounded from in a lightning fast move, mentally saying _reducto_. The tree's thick trunk exploded, sending sharp wood chips and debris flying like tiny missiles. A half surprised, half furious shriek told me that I had hit my mark. Bellatrix stumbled out from behind a smaller tree to the right of the one that I had attacked, her face flecked with shallow cuts and several deeper gashes. She was just as demented looking as the last time I had met her, with robes that were barely better than rags and inky hair piled on her head so badly matted and tangled that it reminded me of some sort of arachnid.

"You filthy mud blood!" she shrieked, her face consumed with anger. She lunged for her wand, which had been knocked out of her hand by my attack. I was quicker, however, and sent her wand flying yards away with a flick of my wrist and thinking _expeliarmous_. Within the next second I aimed a new curse at the vile witch, sending her flying into a nearby rock. She hit the rock with enough force that I'm pretty sure I heard some bones break.

Bellatrix landed in a pile at the foot of the rock, her matted black hair covered with mud and leaves. She rose to her feat unsteadily, glaring at my with pure hatred. All of a sudden she lunged to the ground in front of her, and I realized that she had landed next to her wand. Bellatrix snatched her wand off the ground and began to rise with a triumphant smirk on her face. Before I could react, she aimed a curse at my head. I leapt behind a tree, watching the bright crimson jet fly by my head by inches. Falling to my knees I peaked around the rough tree trunk. I pulled my head back just in time as another curse flew past my head, so close this time that it ruffled my hair as it passed. Using her own trick against her, I twisted in my knees and apparated to a tree behind Bellatrix. Still thinking that I was behind the tree in front of her, Bellatrix continued to throw curses at it and sang tauntingly, "you can't hide forever, Isabella. After all, don't you want to fight me? Don't you want to avenge your filthy little muddblood father? After all, his death was _very _painful. I would know." my vision was tinted red with fury at her taunting. In one move I dove out from behind the tree and thought, _stupefy_! Bellatrix went flying into another tree, collapsing onto the ground as a unconscious heap. I moved in to put an end to the battle and the evil creature before me.

Just as I was about to perform the ending curse, avada kadavra, a large shape hurdled out of the forest and hit me with the force of a train. I went flying and landed, thankfully, in a pile of leaves in a small clearing. Coughing, is struggled to get back on my feat and face this new attacker. I winced in pain as I managed to rise to my knees. From the pain stabbing me in the ribs, I could only assume that one or more were either broken or severely bruised. Forcing myself to ignore the pain, I rose to my feet and searched for whatever had attacked me. A throaty chuckle coming from my left caught my attention. Standing there, half crouched and with a feral smile, was Fenrir Greyback. I cursed myself mentally for my stupidity. During my battle with Bellatrix I had forgotten that she had a were-wolf accomplice. Greyback started to circle me like a predator circling his prey, which I suppose was true. I turned with him, wary not to let him get behind my back. He grinned freely the entire time he circled, exposing his disgustingly yellow, fanged teeth. I saw the fresh blood that dripped off of those yellow fangs, and felt a rush of fury and pain. "Scared, Isabella?" he asked playfully in a rough voice that was more closely related to a bark. I didn't gratify him with a response, I simply met his feral eyes with my own hate filled ones. His grin widened, and he continued, "Well then, I'll just have to fix that now won't I?" before I could respond, he charged me in a move almost too fast for my eyes to follow.

I tried to dodge, and he barely managed to slash his talon like finger nails across my already damaged ribcage, leaving several shallow but painful gashes. Hot blood began running freely down my side, the scent making me dizzy. I forced myself to stay on my feet, knowing that showing any sign of pain or weakness would only give Greyback what he wanted. He paused in front of me again, waiting for my response. When I didn't give him one, he gave a laugh that resembled a bark more than anything else, and said in a disturbingly joyful tone, "Oh, I love a stubborn one. They're always much more fun to play with."

I glared at him and replied simply, "Go to hell."

"I'm sure I will", he said easily. His smile transformed into a snarl, and he rocked back on his heels as he prepare to pounce again. However, I was ready this time. I tightened my hand on my wand, which I had miraculously managed to hold on to, and waited for the attack. Greyback growled, and lunged at me as I whipped my wand up to meet his attack.

"Inciendo", I cried just before the were-wolf was on top of me. A ball of fire erupted out of my wand and strait to Greyback's face and torso. He backed off rapidly, swearing and making a strange noise that you would expect from a wounded dog. He stopped about twenty feet away from me, and I took a quick chance to see how injured he was. I was grimly satisfied with what I saw. Greyback's face, neck and chest were covered in burns, some worse than others. The ones around his face were the worst, and one of his eyes was so badly damaged that I doubted any amount of magic would save it.

I tried to take a step forward to throw another curse at the wounded creature, but a spell of dizziness made me even clumsier than usual and I was soon splayed out on the cold ground. I realized that I was getting more and more light headed, no doubt from the blood loss coming from my slashed side. I knew that I wouldn't be able to remain conscious for much longer, and I would be no good in a fight in the condition that I was in. I needed to get somewhere safe where I could heal myself, but that would require leaving these two vile creatures to live another day and end more lives. My fury was still overwhelming, I wanted so desperately to kill these monsters, but I knew that if I stayed here much longer I wouldn't have any chance of winning that fight. I rose unsteadily to my feet once again, glancing over at Greyback. He was shaking himself like a dog trying to get rid of a bug, his face contorted with anger and pain. Suddenly he looked up into my eyes, meeting my hate filled eyes with a similar fury. "You will regret this day", I hissed venomously. His fury seemed to over power his pain, and he began growling viciously. Just as he lunged, I twisted in place, allowing the crushing vortex to pull me away from this place, apparating to one of the only places that I always felt safe in.

I landed on my feet, only to immediately fall to my knees weakly. I struggled to get back up, but my vision was blurry and my body was becoming too weak from blood loss to move much. Stars danced before my eyes, blinding me from the natural beauty of the perfectly circular meadow before me. I pointed my wand at my wounded rib cage and murmured , "episkey", stopping the bleeding as I fought off the darkness threatening to pull me under. Finally exhausted and drained of all energy from my falling adrenalin rush, I collapsed onto the thick carpet of grass and wildflowers. Right before I allowed unconsciousness to take over, I felt my pain, grief and guilt return in full tilt with one thought. "Dad, I'm so sorry".


	3. Mourning and Reunions

**_Hi Everybody! So sorry for not updating for SO long. Things have been a little crazy around here lately between geting ready for school, hanging out with my insane but entertaining friends, and haveing my mother drag me places to sight see. I'll try to update as often as I can, but no promises. I'm a very easily distractable person. So even if i don't update for a while, I promise I havn't given up! Anyways, hope that everyone likes this chapter!_**

**_P.S.- I do not own Bella, Ron, Harry, or any of their awsome friends (and enemies). I only own two rats and one annoying cockatiel named Ziggy._**

* * *

**Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit**

**Sometimes I just want to hide 'cause it's you I miss**

**You know it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this**

**Would you tell me I was wrong?**

**Would you help me understand****?**

**Are you looking down upon me?**

**Are you proud of who I am?**

**There's nothing I wouldn't do**

**To have just one more chance**

**To look into your eyes and see you looking back**

**Hurt**

**By Christina Agulira**

Chapter 2: Mourning and Reunions

**BPOV-**

A strained ray of sunlight filtered through my closed eye lids, waking me out of my deep sleep. The first thing that I realized was that something was very wrong. I was lying on my side on a patch of cold, damp ground. My arm was curved protectively around my ribs, which throbbed in pain. After several seconds of weak confusion the events of last night rushed back to me with agonizing clarity. I closed my eyes briefly as another wave of pain washed over me. I had expected more tears to come, but I was too mentally and physically exhausted at this point to produce any more. I shifted slowly onto my knees, the pain in my midsection reminding me of my wounds.

Gently peeling blood soaked shirt from my waist, I inspected the damage for the first time. Several shallow but ragged gashes ran across my rib cage, along with several harsh bruises from my fight with Bellatrix. I could tell that at least one of my ribs was broken from the sharp pain that they gave off when I moved. The bleeding from the gashes in my side had been stopped by the spell that I had used on them, but they were still raw and dangerous. I knew that I needed to get more help for my wounds, but the closest help for me would be my healer's kit that I kept back at the house, which contained many different types of potions and herbs. I had always kept my kit under my bed in my room, putting a concealment charm on it to make sure that nobody would find it. I grimaced in pain at the thought of returning to the house where my father had been murdered, I didn't know if I would be able to stand seeing his blood on the floors or his lifeless eyes. I could apparated to St. Mungo's or the Burrow for treatment, but I was wary of apparating for long distances with open wounds. Apparating when you're perfectly healthy is usually safe, but when you're wounded the chances of something going wrong like splinching yourself were much higher. So that left my own healing supplies. With a resigned sigh, I forced myself to my feet.

Ignoring the pain jolting through my body, I turned on my foot and allowed the constricting vortex to take me back to my house. I re-appeared in the forest behind my house, falling to my knees but miraculously not ending up splayed out on the ground. Ignoring my memories from the last time that I had been in this forest, I steeled myself to look up at my home, the place that had become the center of so much pain. When I finally glanced up at the place that had become a second home to me through the last year, I hissed in fury. Ice seemed to course through my body as I stared at the place where my house had _used _to be, now nothing but a pile of smoldering ashes. They had burned it to the ground. Ashes lay in piles and covered the yard, the grass had been charred black by the flames and smoke curled off the ground like living beings. I noticed dully that nothing was left, not even the cement foundation of the house. _Fiendfyre _, I thought darkly, remembering Hermione talking about the dangerous spell one night as the two girls worked on Charms homework. "_It summons an unnaturally hot fire that takes on a life of it's own that's so hot it can destroy anything, it's one of the most destructive spells in the world. It's almost impossible to control, too_", she had told me. " _I doubt even most death eaters would dare use it if they were sane_". Bellatrix defiantly wouldn't be considered sane by anyone, but wouldn't have wanted to leave any evidence as to what happened. She must have snuck back here after she regained consciousness and set it on fire. I hoped desperately that she had failed to rein in the spell and had been killed by her own foul spell, but I knew that it was a false hope. Bellatrix was exactly the type of death eater to use a curse like this.

_Everyone will just think it was an accident_, I thought furiously. They'll just assume that something caught on fire and we couldn't get out of the house on time. Nobody will question the fire or our deaths. After all this _was _Forks. Who would guess that someone would have had any motive to cause any harm to the police Chief or his daughter.

A breeze swept across the yard, stirring the ashes into the sky and sending my hair flittering in my face. The fresh air brushed against my ribs, the sharp sting reminding me of my injuries. I knew that I desperately needed to get help for my wounds. But did I dare apparated far enough to get to a magic hospital? The closest one was St. Mungos, and that was still a dangerously long distance away**. **I could go to the local hospital, but I hated muggle medicine and it would be difficult to explain my wounds to the doctors. I could just imagine that conversation. _Hi there, could you help me? Oh, what happened? Nothing much, I was just attacked by a vindictive witch and her pet werewolf who has a thirst for my blood. It's cool, though. _

_Yes, that would go over wonderfully_ I thought dryly. I could go to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley always had a well stocked supply of healing potions, and was a fairly skilled healer herself, not to mention the numerous other Order of the Phoenix members that were undoubtedly there as well. The Burrow was also closer than 's was, so there was a smaller chance of me accidentally splinching myself. _The Burrow then_, I finally decided.

Taking a deep breath and ignoring the sting from my broken ribs, I rose to my feet. "Ferula," I said, pointing my wand at my ribs, causing thick bandages to appear around my wounds**. **Hoping that would be enough to stop any serious injuries from occurring, I hesitated for a second before twisting in place and focusing entirely on my destination. The familiar, crushing pressure surrounded me, making my head throb with pain and my vision blur. Suddenly the pain in my side sky rocketed, making my stomach turn with nausea. The pressure suddenly lightened, allowing me to breath again and I knew that I had reached my destination, though only a second had passed.

I groaned as I collapsed in onto the hard ground, my vision fuzzy. I glanced down at my ribs to see fresh blood staining my shirt and trickling down onto the ground. The blood loss was making me weak and disorientated, and the darkness threatened to pull me under. Just before I lost consciousness, I heard a comfortingly familiar voice call, "Who's there?" I glanced up at the figure standing in the softly illuminated doorway of the Borrow. The figure came closer, gasping as they spied me curled up on the ground. "Bella", Mrs. Weasley exclaimed in surprise and worry as she recognized me. I wanted to answer, but the darkness was becoming suffocating, and I could no longer fight it.

* * *

When I woke up I was vaguely aware that I was no longer on the ground, but on a softer, warm surface. I was in a bed, with a thick pile of pillows stacked under my head. I knew that I must be in one of the Weasley children's bedrooms, and felt dimly guilty for whoever it was that I was kicking out of their bed. Hushed voices whispered around me, their tones worried. "When do you think she'll wake up", asked an unusually worried voice that I recognized with delight as one of my best friends, Ron Weasley.

"It might not be a while Ron", warned another familiar voice that was easily recognizable, Hermione Granger. "They fed her quite a bit of potion. She might not be awake for a while now."

"They had to. Her wounds are pretty serious, according to Lupin," added another voice that I immediately recognized with joy, my friend Harry Potter. The anger that laced his voice along with worry didn't surprise me. Harry had always been very protective of me, like an older brother. I wanted to wake up, to reassure my friends that I was fine, but my eyelids felt like they were made from concrete. I also noticed that the pain in my side was considerably better, and easy to ignore. I briefly wondered what type of potion they had made me drink. Whatever it was seemed to have left a fog over my brain, making me feel groggy and weak. I decided to allow myself to drift back into sleep and wait for the effects of the potion to wear off.

When I woke up again, my mind was clearer than it had been before. The light that filtered through my closed eye lids told me that I had been sleeping for quite some time. Nobody was talking this time, but the sound of two sets of quiet breathing near me, one snoring slightly, told me that I was not alone. I forced my eyes to open this time and sat up weakly against the pillows behind my head, ignoring the slight sting form my ribs. As I glanced around the room, I was surprised to see that I was laying on the bed in Ron's room. I was not surprised to see the two sleeping forms in the room.

Ron was sprawled out on a cot on the floor near the end of the bed, snoring quietly. Harry was sitting in the old rocking chair in the corner of the room, his head resting on his shoulder. They both looked to be deep in sleep, and I felt a slight pang of disapproval and guilt as I wondered how late they had stayed up waiting for me to awake. Just as I wondered where Hermione was, I heard quiet footsteps announce the arrival of somebody outside the door. A second later Hermione opened the door carefully, balancing a tray full of various breakfast items in one hand. Closing the door quietly, she glanced around the room. She rolled her eyes as she spied Ron and Harry sprawled out sleeping, and gasped loudly when she saw that I was awake. "Bella", she cried, almost dropping the tray in alarm. Her cry awoke Harry and Ron, causing Ron to fall off of his cot with a muffled exclamation. Hermione dropped the tray onto a small table by the door and ran to me, pulling me into a tight hug. The sudden movement caused my head to spin and my ribs to ache.

"Hermione, need to breath", I gasped breathlessly. She immediately released me and stepped back, looking sheepish.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Bella", she said began anxiously.

"It's fine, Hermione", I reassured her quickly. She stepped aside to let Ron and Harry pass, allowing them to give me equally tight hugs.

Once I could breathe again, I looked between my friends and asked, "How long have I been out?" I asked as Ron sat on the end of the bed.

"Almost two days", answered Harry immediately. "We had to feed you a healing potion to help you recover from the blood loss." Seeing my scolding glance he quickly added, "I know you hate them, but we had no other choice. You had already lost a lot of blood and you re-opened your wounds when you apparated." His expression turned disapproving and worried when he mentioned me apparating.

"What were you thinking Bella! Dissaparating when you were that injured, with open wounds even." Hermione exclaimed, looking upset. "That was extremely reckless. Just think of all the things that could of gone wrong", Hermione started anxiously.

"Mione, I didn't have much of a choice." I defended soothingly. "I knew that I was hurt, and that I needed a healer as soon as I could get one. What else was I supposed to do?"

Hermione sighed, defeated, and replied, "Sorry, I've just been so worried! Remus said that you would be fine, but you had lost so much blood, we thought ...", she trailed off helplessly.

"I'm fine Hermione", I reassured her firmly. At my friend's disbelieving faces, I added, "A little tiered, but I'll be fine." I didn't add that the gashes in my ribs were starting to burn a little, they were worried enough.

"Right", Hermione said disbelievingly, but didn't bother me farther.

I sighed and looked away from my friend's worried faces. Ron's room was still the same, eye watering shade of neon orange, with posters of his favorite quid ditch team, the Chudley Canons. My eyes found the tray of food that Hermione had left by the door, and the dull ache in my stomach reminded me that I hadn't eaten in over seventy-eight hours. I blushed when my stomach growled loudly and said mildly, "Ok, I might be a little hungry."

"Oh! Right", Ron said, looking slightly startled. "Mione, did you get", he started, stopping when he saw the tray of food on the table. "Oh, thanks", he ended, getting up to retrieve the food.

"What happened after I passed out," I questioned before taking a bite of a delicious looking berry tart.

"We were in the living room when we heard Mom calling for help", Ron said while enviously eyeing the food on the platter in front of me, no doubt trying to be a gentleman and allow me to eat my fill while trying to ignore his own seemingly insatiable hunger. I rolled my eyes at his typical behavior, and indicated with my hand that he should take anything that he wanted. With a small, half thankful, half embarrassed smile he picked out a stack of toast and continued, "We all rushed out and found her kneeling by you. She said that she didn't know what happened, that you just showed up and passed out."

"There was a lot of blood," continued Hermione when Ron had stuffed too much food in his mouth to allow his to continue, her face paling at the memory. "I think we all kind of froze, but Remus and Tonks were here to talk about a mission for the order and rushed over to help. They did some healing spells to stop the bleeding, and carried you inside. Remus looked over your wounds while he had Mrs. Weasley feed you a couple of healing potions to help your ribs and recover from the blood loss." she said in a shaky voice. "You've been asleep ever since."

I exhaled deeply, and whispered, "I'll have to thank him. Is he still here?"

"No," replied Harry. "He left a couple of hours after he stabilized you. I think he wanted to tell the Order that you were here, and injured."

Eating some food definitely helped to clear my head and restore some of my strength. My head was clear and un-clouded, and it was far easier to sit up than it had been when I had first woken up. However, the lift of the fog around my brain seemed to have been dulling the pain from the gashes in my side, which was quickly becoming extremely painful.

"How bad are my injuries," I asked quietly after finishing a small apple. I had no doubts that Remus and Mrs. Weasley had taken excellent care of me, but I knew that werewolf induced would were extremely hard to heal.

Harry's face darkened with protective fury as he recited, "When you got here you had three broken ribs, some pretty bad cuts on your side and you were covered in scratches and bruises. Everything but the cuts on your side should be healed by now." Worry tinted his expression as he continued, "The cuts could be a problem. Werewolf scratches are impossible to heal magically, so you'll just have to let them heal naturally."

"If I ever find the mutt that did this…." Ron threatened darkly, allowing his head to fall into his hands.

I let out a bitter laugh, much to the surprise of all of my friends, and said darkly, "Oh, I know who it was. Owe Greyback quite the bit of trouble next time I see him."

Ron began muttering a long string of furious curses as Hermione gasped in horror and covered her mouth with her hands. "Greyback! But how in the world did _he _find you? Nobody knew where you were but us," She exclaimed.

"He wasn't alone. Our old friend _Bellatrix_," I spat furiously , "seemed to think that it was a good time to pay me a visit."

"Her," demanded Harry angrily. His eyes flashed with hate, and I felt a sting of sympathy as I realized that Harry had been in the same stop that I was not long ago because of the same, vindictive witch when his Godfather Serius had been killed. "What was _she _doing there?"

"Both of them," Hermione shrieked in alarm. "Bella what on earth happened when you were in Forks?" I winced in pain at the thought of talking about the recant horrors in my life, about my own heartache that had been doubled when my father had been killed. Hermione saw my wince, and said quickly in an apologetic tone, "Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry! If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to," she finished, her eyes anxious.

"It's fine Hermione," I confronted her quietly. I knew that what she said was true, that none of my friends would pressure me into talking about what had happened, and the idea of prolonging the time until I had to relive the pain that I had been through in the last few months. I looked up at my friends, seeing the concern in their eyes, and felt a stab of guilt. My friends were undyingly loyal to me, they deserved to know the truth. My most recent heartbreak was painful enough to relive about, and I could not stand to think about the other heartbreak I had gone through. In this second, I missed him more than I could possibly imagine. The familiar pain lunged across my chest, and I automatically winced and crossed my arms over my heart.

Ron noticed and said in a panicked tone, "Bella, are you okay? Your side doesn't hurt too much, does it?"

"I'm fine," I whispered automatically. I didn't need to tell them the whole truth, I decided. They didn't need to know about my earlier time in Forks, the times that had been the happiest in my life. I could just tell them about the latest tragedy in my life. Taking a deep breath I said shakily, "I'll need to tell you eventually, anyways." Staring intently at the brilliant orange ceiling of Ron's room, I fought away the crushing guilt and pain so that I could speak, though I couldn't help the salty tears that trailed down my face. " Nothing really happened while I was in Forks. It's a small town, very boring," I lied expertly, fighting a grimace at the thought of lying to my friends. Contrary to what most people in Forks believed, I was actually an excellent liar. I also, wasn't as clumsy as I had pretended to be, although I wasn't exactly what you would call graceful. "Then, one day, I was driving home from school…

* * *

_**Sorry about the ending! I know, I'm evil :)**_

_**I'll try to update sooner this time, next chapter should be shorter. Also, look for a chapter from our favorite shopaholic pixie Alice's POV soon. Looking forward to that one. **_

_**Reviews are awsome, **_

_**please and thank you!**_

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	4. Visions of Change

**Finally! Well, here if it folks, the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Visions of Change**

APOV-

I was lounging on the giant couch in the living room in our new house in Alaska with my head resting in my glorious husband's lap. I was occupying myself by reading a fashion magazine, my attention forcibly focussed as I desperately tried to ignore the visions screaming at me in the back of my mind.

My visions had been much more forceful lately, always pushing to get my attention. They were getting almost impossible to ignore, and the simple fact that I even _was _ignoring them irritated me to no end. But, I had promised my idiotic brother that I wouldn't look into Bella's future, and I was almost certain that whatever visions I kept having now had to be about her to have such a powerful pull.

Normally I would have never agreed to such a ridiculous request, one that forced me to turn a blind eye to my gift, but I knew how important it was to Edward that we not interfere with Bella's life. He was so devastated after he so foolishly left the love of his existence that I couldn't stand to argue with him.

But still...

I _hated_ not being able to just go with my instincts and look at what my second sight was trying to show me. I _hated_ not knowing what these visions meant, not knowing if the girl I had come to see as a younger sister and then abandoned with a broken heart all within a year was ok or not. It was the equivalent to any normal person walking around with their eyes closed in a noisy room. It was unnatural and unsettling.

I relaxed automatically as a sense of peaceful serenity washed through my body, washing my uncertainty and irritation out of my mind. I glared weakly at my meekly grinning husband, silently reminding him that his influence wasn't appreciated at the moment. I had made it clear before that he was not to try to alleviate my guilt over abandoning my sister. I needed fully feel it, doing anything else would feel like an insult to Bella.

"Sorry darlin" he whispered sadly with just a hint of his velvety southern accent. " you were getting all riled up again."

I groaned and turned my face into my husband's chest, inhaling his honey and sage scent before mumbling irately, "I know, i'm sorry. I can't help myself. This is so frustrating! I know that something important is happening, but I'm not even allowed to look and see what it is!"

Jasper rubbed soothing circles on my back as I ranted, comforting me as only he knew how. I wordlessly pulled myself up from Jasper's lap and gave him a chaste peck on the mouth, a thank you for his consolation. Smiling lovingly, he returned the kiss eagerly. I giggled at his enthusiasm, thoroughly distracted from my previous worries by the addicting feeling of his marble smooth lips against mine. As I wrapped my consequently smaller arms around Jasper's neck, I was suddenly hit with a vision so powerful that it was impossible to ignore. With a gasp, I was thrown into a vision with frightening force.

* * *

In my vision, the first thing I noticed was the smoke, so thick and black in the air that it seemed I could taste it's acidic taste on my tongue. It filled the air like a toxic cloud and tinted the air black, making it difficult for even for me to recognize my surroundings.

Narrowing my eyes with frustration and trying to ignore the unease that coursed through my veins, I searched for the source of the billowing smoke. I turned to find an inferno, a fire burning so hotly that it seemed to turn a blinding white in some places raging before me, casting ash into the sky to fall like grey snowflakes.

Hissing automatically, I stepped back from the raging inferno in alarm. Covering my eyes to shield them from the glare of the white hot fire and trying to ignore my instincts, which begged me to get away from the flames, I paused to inspect the blaze closer. An icy cold thrill of terror shot through me as I finally recognized my surroundings and the shape of the burning building.

No... no!

The blazing fire licked through the windows and tore through the beams of what had once been a small, cozy home, surrounded by quiet woods. My best friend and sister's house. Bella's house was engulfed by the white hot flames, melting the glass of the small windows and turning the walls into ash.

As I watched in horror, one of the beams supporting the cozy home lost it's battle with the flames, giving in and crumbling into nothing but a pile of ash. The roof of the house followed, and the entire house collapsed inwards and down into a smoldering pile of ashes and rubble. The entire process had been terrifyingly quick, the old timber was no match for the destructive power of the flames.

I stared in shock at the red hot rubble covering the Swan family's lawn, terrified and begging the god that Carlisle believed so strongly in, _"please, _please_ don't let them of been in there. Let Bella have been at a friends, or our shopping for food or enjoying a meal with her father, let her be ok." _

I dropped to my knees in horror and guilt, shaking with panic at the thought of anyone being in the house when that fire started. There would have been no time for them to get out. What if...

No!

I refused to think about that. My sister had to be ok, she just had to be.

I felt closed my eyes, forcing the scene before me out of my mind, and willed my second sense to show me my sister. To show me that she was fine, that my grief and fear were unneeded.

The scene before me changed, like ink blurring on an old photograph. When it settled, I found myself kneeling in she same place as I had been before, but this time the sun's rays were flickering over the horizon and the embers of the house had faded from a glowing red to nothing but dull black. The sun's light casted shadows eerily on the wreckage, making the scene even more grim than it already was.

I was starting to wonder if my vision was somehow damaged by my fear, how did this involve Bella? Suddenly I noticed that I was not alone in this vision. Many of the townspeople, some of whom I recognized as my former class mates from Forks stood around several emergency vehicles. They appeared grief stricken and grim, and were talking to one of the police officers by the cruisers. From the lips of the grim looking officer came the words that I had been dreading most, erasing my flimsy remaining shreds of denial once and for all.

" No bodies have been found, but there's been no sign of either of them for the last twelve hours. We have no other choice than to assume that Chief Swan and his daughter were in the house when the fire started."

And then my body to turn to ice.

* * *

I slowly returned to the present, my senses trickling back to me slowly as the blackness faded. Though feeling returned to my limbs, the horrible coldness did not go away.

The first thing that I saw when I fully returned was a pair of golden eyes staring into mine with concern.

"Alice?" questioned Jasper as he hovered protectively over me, no doubt alarmed by the waves of grief and horror flowing through me. "What's wrong? Has something happened?"

I buried my head into my mate's chest as he continued to question me, fighting the grief that stole my voice and threatened to pull me under, along with a strange instinct that I didn't recognize.

"Alice?" Jasper questioned again, this time timidly. "Alice, please, please tell me what's wrong. What did you see? Was it Carlisle and Esme? Are they in trouble? Or is it Edward?"

I shook my head against his chest, and shuddered in horror at the mention of my missing brother's name. This would destroy Edward. Between the guilt over not being there to protect his love and the pain and loss from loosing her, he would never move on.

Finally I willed my lips to move, answering my bewildered husband in a whisper, "It's Bella."

Jasper stiffened in surprise and pain, and whispered in a soothing tone, "Oh, Alice. I'm so sorry."

And them I could no longer hold back my grief and guilt, and I allowed the strange instinct to overwhelm me. I threw my arms around Jasper's head and, for the first time I could remember, I cried

Jasper held me close as I wept, shedding invisible tears for my lost sister, and allowed me to ride out the crushing waves of pain.


End file.
